Editor's Note: The following excerpted testimony was delivered by Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) this Wednesday before the House Budget Committee. Rep. Tiahrt addressed the problem of federal overspending in yesterday's excerpt. He now discusses an effective tool that can help to rein in discretionary domestic spending.

A first step toward a stable financial future for this country currently can be found in H.R. 3213, which is also known as the Commission on the Accountability and Review of Federal Agencies Act (CARFA). CARFA is based on a process with an established record of successful program-elimination and prioritization of spending -- the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). H.R. 3213 will "establish a commission to conduct a comprehensive review of federal agencies and programs and to recommend the elimination or realignment of duplicative, wasteful, or outdated functions..." CARFA provides for a disciplined spending review process for non-defense, non-entitlement programs. Congress will have to simply vote up-or-down on the commission's recommendations in their entirety. The congressional log-rolling that normally bogs down the process will be short-circuited. In this way, real reform can emerge, and the deficit and debt problems can be brought under control. H.R.3213 offers Congress and the Administration a unique opportunity: rather than simply re-fund and increase funding for every federal program, CARFA will eliminate unproductive, duplicative and outdated programs.

Here's how CARFA would work. The Commission would consist of 12 members, appointed by the President, no later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act. Members would be appointed for the life of the Commission, and would be required to meet no later than 30 days after the date on which all members of the Commission have been appointed. CARFA's duties would then include conducting a top to bottom review of all federal programs and agencies - excepting the Department of Defense and any agency that solely administers entitlement programs. CARFA would seek to identify those programs or agencies that could be considered duplicative in mission, grossly wasteful or inefficient, outdated, irrelevant, or failed. The assessment of these programs would be based primarily upon the achievement of common performance measures, financial management, and other factors determined by the President. No later than two years after the enactment of this Act, the Commission would be required to submit to the President and Congress a plan with recommendations of the agencies and programs that should be realigned or eliminated and propose legislation to implement this plan. CARFA would require congressional consideration of the review's findings under expedited legislative rules. In short, Congress would be voting "up or down" to continue or stop wasteful spending.

CARFA's main focus would be to make our government smarter and more efficient, and also to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to support programs such as the "Federal Tea-taster," who until 1995 headed the "Board of Tea Experts" which was created by the Imported Tea Act of 1897. Until this program's elimination just 8 short years ago, the federal government was spending $120,000 in salary and operating expenses per year to taste tea. Obviously this is only one example of the type of programs that CARFA would target, but I am convinced that our federal government is replete with programs such as this that make a mockery out of the hard-earned tax dollars that Congress provides. Other examples of government waste that CARFA would target include surplus lands owned by the Department of Energy, which if sold would save taxpayers $12 million over five years. In addition, eliminating four duplicative bilingual education programs at the Department of Education would save taxpayers over $800 million over a five-year period. We could save $1 million dollars every year by simply eliminating overlapping responsibilities and reducing administrative positions at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The examples of inefficient and wasteful government practices that CARFA could target are far too numerous to cite in this short amount of time. However, it is clear to me that the need for CARFA is very real.

The strict time limits governing the Commission, which would expire shortly after submitting its findings, would ensure that its costs are kept to a minimum. I believe that the savings that would occur as a result of the Commission's findings will more than justify the minimal expenses that the study might incur. In addition, it is worth noting that CARFA requires that ALL funds saved by the implementation of this plan can ONLY be used for supporting other domestic programs or paying down the national debt.

H.R.3213 offers Congress and the Administration a test: Can we address a real and present problem by adopting a method that has been successful in the past? The answer will tell us much about the prospects for our country in the 21st century. CARFA offers an idea other than hiding our heads in the sand and ignoring this problem. CARFA is a realistic plan that will make genuine reform possible. It takes LEADERSHIP to point out hard truths and LEADERSHIP to find and implement a workable answer. We welcome support to this politically viable solution to government spending gone awry. If the CARFA commission comes to fruition, it will give Congress arms-length distance to do the right thing and vote down ridiculous, redundant and outdated programs.

Todd Tiahrt (R) represents the 4th Congressional District of Kansas.

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